Download Guidelines for Research Papers Pruet School of Christian Studies

Guidelines for Research Papers
Pruet School of Christian Studies
Last revision: Spring 2006
These guidelines are derived with slight modification from Nancy Jean Vyhmeister,
Quality Research Papers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) and Kate Turabian, A
Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. (Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1996). Students should refer to these works for any guidelines
needed that are not included in this paper. Where the guidelines in this paper differ with
those of Vyhmeister or Turabian the student should follow the ones given in this paper.
A. Form
1. Fonts, Margins, and Line Spacing
All papers must be typed. The font in the main body of the paper should be New
Times Roman, and the size should be 12 point (footnotes should be 10 point fonts,
as discussed below). In the main body of your paper use standard double spacing
with one-inch margins (footnotes and bibliography should be single spaced, as
discussed below). With this font and this spacing, a typical page without
footnotes and with page numbers at the bottom will have 23 lines of text. Please
do not try to play clever games with the font size or the line spacing to try to make
your paper appear longer than it really is. We are quite aware of all the tricks. If
you use a larger spacing, or larger fonts, or wider margins in order to stretch out
your paper to its required number of pages, it makes us conclude that you think
that we are rather stupid. This puts us in a foul mood. You don’t want us in a
foul mood while we are grading your paper.
2. Justification
Justify the left margins and leave the right margin jagged.
3. Title Page
The title page should contain the following: University name, title of the paper,
class name, professor’s name, student’s name, and date. See the attached
example.
4. Page Numbering
Put page numbers at the bottom right hand corner. Do not count the title page or
put page numbers on the title page.
5. Other Preliminary Pages
Do not include a table of contents unless your professor explicitly instructs you to
have one. Likewise, do not add blank pages at the front.
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6. Binding
Staple your paper together neatly with one staple in the upper left hand corner.
Do not put the paper in a folder or cover of any type.
B. Composition
1. Person
Unless your professor tells you otherwise, write in third person. Avoid first
person references (I, we) and second person references (you). Thus rather than
saying “what this means for me” or “what this means for us” it is better to write
something like “what this means for Christians” or “what this means for the
Church today.”
2. Verb tenses
Be careful about changing verb tenses within the paper. That is, do not start off a
page by saying “Moses went (past tense) up on the mountain,” and then change to
present tense a few sentences or paragraphs later “Moses speaks (present tense) to
God on the mountain.” However, when making application it is necessary to
speak in present tense, i.e. “what this means for Christians today.” It is best to
keep the biblical events in past tense but place present application in present
tense. This can become a little confusing in regard to the timelessness of the
biblical text. Thus it is fine to write, “Ephesians 4:1-3 instructs (present tense)
Christians to walk in a manner worthy of Christ.” But if you include the author
Paul in the statement, then you need to stay with past tense for consistency. Thus
you might write, “In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul instructed (past tense) the Ephesian
Christians to walk in a manner worthy of Christ.”
3. Scripture References
Use a colon (American style) and not a period (European style) in between
chapters and verses. Thus it is 4:1-3 and not 4.1-3. In mentioning books of the
bible use the full name of the book if it occurs within a regular sentence and
abbreviate the book if it occurs in parenthesis or in footnotes.
Example: “In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul instructed the Ephesian Christians to walk in
a manner worthy of Christ.” In this instance, do not abbreviate Ephesians.
However, consider the next example, “Paul next instructed them to walk in a
manner worthy of Christ (Eph 4:1-3).” Here the reference is in parenthesis and
thus the abbreviation is used. A list of standard abbreviations for biblical books
can be found in Vhymeister, Quality Research Papers, 67. For the abbreviations
relating to apocryphal and other early Jewish-Christian works, consult A Christian
Writer’s Manual of Style (use the “scholarly style”), the Chicago Manual of Style
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), or the SBL Handbook of Style for
Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson, 1999). Note that abbreviations for biblical books and other ancient
Jewish-Christian works do not have periods after the abbreviation.
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Do not footnote Scripture references; rather keep them in your text. If you are
writing an exegetical paper and all of your references are in one book such as
Ephesians, then after the first reference it is acceptable to drop “Ephesians” and
just have the chapter and verse (4:2). Also, using the number reference such as
4:2 is preferable to writing “chapter 4 verse 2,” which should be avoided.
However, do not ever start a sentence with numbers, so if you are referring to a
text at the start of a sentence you should add the name of the book, i.e. “Ephesians
4:2 is critical to Paul’s view of the Christian life.”
4. Slang
Slang should be avoided in research papers. Likewise avoid the informal terms
“used to” or “supposed to.” Do not use contractions such as “don’t” or “won’t.”
There is a proper place and time for informal language, but not in formal research
papers.
C. Citations
1. When to Cite
Any time you write an idea or fact that is not either common knowledge or
directly derived from your own thinking, you need to cite the source. This is true
whether or not you use direct quotations. It is better to err on the side of overcitation, so when in doubt, cite the source. However, it is not necessary to put a
footnote after every sentence. If your entire paragraph is based on material in one
source, then you can cite that source at the very end of the paragraph.
2. Direct Quotations
If you use more than a few exact words directly from a source then you must
designate the words as a direct quotation by using quotation marks. However, in
good research papers direct quotations should be used sparingly. Only quote
directly if the particular wording of the author is pertinent to your argument.
Usually it is better to restate the author’s thought in your own words to fit in your
own argument, and then to footnote the author as your source.
If you make a direct quotation that is 5 lines or longer, then you should use block
quotations (Turabian 5.30-34). Instead of quotation marks, indent the entire quote
one inch from the left and use single spacing. Place your footnote number at the
end of the block quote.
D. Footnotes
1. Format
Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the page. Number consecutively with
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). Fonts should be 10 point New Times Roman. The
footnote itself should be single spaced, but there should be a full space between
footnotes (hit a hard return at the end of your note to achieve this). The first line
of the footnote should be indented one half inch.
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2. Reference Footnotes and Content Footnotes
There are two purposes for footnotes. One is a reference footnote, in which you
are citing the source for your information. The other is a content footnote, in
which you are providing additional information or discussion that otherwise
disrupts the flow of thought in your paper. You can also combine the two, first
citing the source and then commenting yourself on the citation.
3. Books with a Single Author
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Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002), 56-61.
Note the details of this citation and the order. After the number there is one
space. Next comes the author’s name (first name first), comma, title in italics,
open parenthesis, place of publication, colon, publisher (the short form can be
used, i.e. Eerdmans, Zondervan, etc.), comma, date, closed parenthesis, comma,
space, page number, period. For the place of publication, if the city is well known
(New York, Chicago, etc.) then it is not necessary to cite the state or country. For
the page number citation, do not use abbreviations such as p. or pp. or even
“page.” Just write the numbers as shown above.
4. Books with Multiple Authors
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William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
(Dallas: Word, 1993), 125-27.
5. Books in a Series
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Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 245.
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Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1995), 132.
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Andreas J. Köstenberger and Peter T. O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical
Theology of Mission, New Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. D. A. Carson (Leicester, England: Apollos;
and Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2001), 19.
Note that the series title (The New International Commentary on the New
Testament) is not in italics. Also, volumes like Hagner’s in the Word Biblical
Commentary Series also have volume numbers (this particular book is volume
33b), but traditionally most scholars do not include the volume number of
commentaries that have individual titles (contra Turabian). So for commentaries
in a series leave off the volume number.
Also note that for Moo’s commentary on Romans and Hagner’s commentary on
Matthew we omitted the series editor. This is a common practice among scholars
for commentary series. However, for other types of series, such as Köstenberger
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and O’Brien’s book in the New Studies in Biblical Theology, it is important to
cite the series editor (D. A. Carson, in this instance).
Another item to note in the example above by Köstenberger and O’Brien is that
the book was published jointly by two publishers in two different locations. Give
both publishers and both locations in your footnote, as shown above. However, if
only one publisher is involved, but two or more cities are listed for the place of
publication, then only include the first city in the list.
6. Component Part by One Author in the Work of Another
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A. Skevington Wood, “Ephesians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 11, ed. Frank E.
Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 33-35.
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K. Lawson Younger, “Early Israel in Recent Biblical Scholarship,” in The Face of Old Testament
Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches, ed. David W. Baker and Bill T. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1999), 180.
In this type of book, different authors write articles. One or more editors, who
also sometimes contribute as authors, then pull the book together and edit it.
Wood’s commentary on Ephesians, mentioned above, is a full-length
commentary, equivalent to a book. However, since it is combined in a larger
volume that includes other “articles” (Philippians, Colossians, etc.) it is included
in this category. When citing this type of work it is important to cite the author as
the one who actually wrote the article and not the editor. If you refer to the author
in your text (e.g. “as Wood demonstrates . . .”) it is likewise important to refer to
the actual author and not the editor (i.e. refer to Wood and not to Gaebelein).
Note that the article title is in quotation marks, while the book title is in italics,
followed by the book editor.
7. Article in a Dictionary or Bible Encyclopedia
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Ben Witherington, “Christology,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F.
Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 1993), 113.
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Richard E. Oster, “Ephesus,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman, 2:543.
These works are very similar to those in the category above (Component Part by
One Author in the Work of Another). Similarly, it is important to cite the work
by the author who wrote the actual article and not the editor. Usually the author
of the article is listed at the end of the article. Sometimes only their initials are
given, but you can usually go to the front of the book to find the person’s whole
name. If the article is unsigned, then cite the work by the editor.
The example above for Witherington’s article in Dictionary of Paul and His
Letters should be used for most single volume bible dictionaries. This would
include, for example, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch; Dictionary of
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Jesus and the Gospels, Dictionary of New Testament Background; and
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, among others.
However, note the difference in the citation method for the article in The Anchor
Bible Dictionary. For well-known multi-volume dictionaries and encyclopedias,
the publication information is usually not given. Also, when listing the page
numbers, you should give the volume number, followed by a colon and then the
page number. This method should be used for such reference works as
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament, New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and
Exegesis, and New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology.
8. Reprint Editions.
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Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol. 1, trans. D. M. G. Stalker (Edinburgh: Oliver
and Boyd, 1962; reprint, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 45-49.
It is important to note that sometimes a book published in 2001 was actually
written 40 or fifty years earlier. Or worse, sometimes a book written in 1880 is
reprinted in 1995. If you only mention the 1995 publication date, you (and your
readers) may be misled into thinking that you have cited a current work rather
than a dated one.
9. Article in a Journal.
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Millard Erickson, “Evangelical Theological Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of
the Evangelical Theological Society 46 (March 2003): 23.
Note that the article title is in quotation marks and the name of the journal is in
italics. The number 46 is the volume number for that issue.
10. Subsequent References
The first time that you cite a source the footnote should follow the pattern
presented above. However, for subsequent references to the same source you
should use a shortened form. If, for example, you refer to Millard Erickson’s
article cited just above, your footnote would read:
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Erickson, 25.
If your very next citation is also from Erickson, then use the abbreviation Ibid.
Note that Ibid. always has a period after it (it is an abbreviation). If you are citing
from the very same page of Erickson (i.e. page 25), then you footnote should
read:
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Ibid.
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If, however, your very next citation is from Erickson, but on another page, then
your footnote should read:
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Ibid., 27.
If you cite two different works from by the same author, then subsequent citations
should have the author’s last name and a shortened form of the title for
clarification.
11. Internet Sources
In general, within the field of Christian Studies those who publish on the Internet
are those who can’t get published in reputable hard print sources. There are some
significant exceptions, and the field is constantly changing. Yet at the present
time, we strongly discourage you from using Internet sources unless you know for
certain that the source is reputable. If you must use an Internet source then be
certain to cite the Website that you used. However, you must also cite the author
and the organization that sponsors the Website. If no author or organization is
given, or if you do not know from other sources the reputability of the author or
organization, then there is no reason to use the source. Below is an example from
a reputable website.
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Michele Chabin, “Christian Jewish Visits to Temple Mount Resume,” Ethicsdaily.com (August
25, 2003). Online: http://www.ethicsdaily.com.
E. Bibliography
1. General
Unless otherwise instructed by your professor, you should include a bibliography
of all works that you actually cited in your paper. Use New Times Roman font,
12 point. Single space the Bibliography, but put a space between each entry. List
the sources by the author’s last name and alphabetize the entries. However, if
there are two or more authors, only the first author should have his last name first;
the other names should follow the regular order. Indent the second line of each
entry by one half inch. As with footnotes, remember to list dictionary articles by
the author of the article and not by the editor. For books, do not include any page
numbers. For journal articles and for component parts in books, give the page
numbers of the entire article. Note also that most of the information in each entry
is separated by periods rather than commas, as in footnotes. Also, end each entry
with a period.
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2. Example
Below is an example Bibliography of all the works cited earlier in this guideline.
Erickson, Millard. “Evangelical Theological Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century.”
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46 (March 2003): 5-28.
Goldsworthy, Graeme. According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible.
Downsers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002.
Hagner, Donald A. Matthew 14-28. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, 1995.
Köstenberger, Andreas J., and Peter T. O’Brien. Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A
Biblical Theology of Mission. New Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. D. A.
Carson. Leicester, England: Apollos; and Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2001.
Moo, Douglas. The Epistle to the Romans. The New International Commentary on the
New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
Oster, Richard. “Ephesus.” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman,
2:542-549.
Rad, Gerhard von. Old Testament Theology. Vol. 1. Translated by D. M. G. Stalker.
Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962; reprint, Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press, 2001.
Witherington, Ben. “Christology.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Gerald F.
Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 100-15. Downers Grove, IL:
Intervarsity, 1993.
Wood, A. Skevington. “Ephesians.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 11, ed.
Frank E. Gaebelein, 3-92. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.
Younger, K. Lawson. “Early Israel in Recent Biblical Scholarship.” In The Face of Old
Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches, ed. David W. Baker
and Bill T. Arnold, 176-206. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.
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OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY
DR. DANNY HAYS
BY
JOE SMOTZKOFF
OCTOBER 12, 2006
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